again, the biggest problem (IMHO) is not how much people get awarded, but how scared the MDs are to get sued."
- I agree with this... those awards per se are even right now are not that huge, but people practice defensive medicine that is not only not the best medicine, but also is more expensive.

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Happy New Year to all! Virtual hugs!

Worse than the Public Option

WSJ, Dec 11 2009. Editorial

It's hard to imagine a better illustration of the panic andrecklessness stringing ObamaCare along in the Senate than the putativedeal that Harry Reid announced this week. The Majority Leader isclaiming that a Medicare "buy-in" for people from ages 55 to 64 hasovercome the liberal-moderate impasse over the "public option." But ifanything, this gambit is an even faster road to government-run healthcare.
The public option—an insurance program open to everyone, financed bytaxpayers and run like Medicare—is intended as a veiled substitute for"single-payer" Canada-style insurance. Under the cover of "choice" and"competition," the entitlement would quickly squeeze out privateinsurance as people gravitated to "free" coverage and the governmentheld down costs via price controls the way Medicare does now.

Mr. Reid's buy-in simply cuts out the middle man. Why go to thetrouble of creating a new plan like Medicare when Medicare itself isalready handy? A buy-in is an old chestnut of single-payer advocatePete Stark, and it's the political strategy liberals have tried sincethe Great Society: Ratchet down the enrollment age for Medicare, boostthe income limits to qualify for Medicaid, and soon health care for theentire middle class becomes a taxpayer commitment.
In the case of Medicare, this meansexpanding a program that is already going broke. Medicare reimbursesdoctors and hospitals at rates 70% to 80% below those of privateinsurers, which means below the actual treatment costs in many citiesand regions. Providers either eat these losses—about half of U.S.hospitals are running a deficit or close to it—or they raise prices forprivate payers.

This cost-shifting isn't dollar for dollar, but all empiricalresearch shows that it adds tens of billions of dollars to consumerhealth bills, and this will accelerate if several million new patientsare added to Medicare. That means higher prices for health insurance.Adverse selection will also be a big problem, as the people whochoose to join will inevitably be higher risk or in poorer health. Mr.Reid hasn't released any details on his plan, if they even exist, butwould the sub-65 uninsured who join Medicare be subsidized? If so, inwhat sense is this one-hand-subsidizes-the-other taxpayer self-dealinga "buy-in"? It sounds simply like a huge Medicare expansion, especiallyif employers decide to drop coverage for anyone older than 55.

As for costs, how does adding new beneficiaries square withDemocratic promises that they will cut Medicare spending on paper bytwo percentage points a year for the next two decades—just as the babyboomers retire and health costs continue to climb?
This last-minute, back-room ploy showsagain that Democrats are simply winging it as they rush to passsomething—anything—that can get 60 votes by Christmas. President Obamapraised the proposal as "a creative new framework," while FinanceChairman Max Baucus told the Washington Post, "If there's 60 Senatorswho can reach agreement, I'm for it." Now there's a model standard to use for reordering 17% of the U.S. economy.


The latest polls show public supportfor the Senate plan falling into the mid-30%-range. The remainingsupporters must not be paying attention.

Someone is getting desperate... "Health Insurers Caught Paying Facebook Gamers Virtual Currency To Oppose Reform Bill": ********tinyurl.com/ylmzbqv

Aleksey, of course it's a lot more desperate vs paying senators for their votes.. which is what Dems have been doing to get to 60..

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

Paying to senators is done by members of both parties. In may cases lobbying resorts to that too. Creating a fake grass-root campaign is something new...

Lieberman is not backing down for now..doesn't support Medicare buy-ins and cuts at the same time...hope it stays this way..

Lieberman is not backing down for now..doesn't support Medicare buy-ins and cuts at the same time...hope it stays this way..